IV Reunión Ministerial de Agricultura Familiar y Desarrollo Rural de la CELAC (San Salvador, 12 y 13 de diciembre de 2017)

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MINISTERIAL DECLARATION OF CELAC ON FAMILY FARMING
AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
San Salvador, El Salvador, December 13, 2017
The member countries of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC),
gathered in San Salvador, El Salvador, on December 13, 2017, on the occasion of the
IV Ministerial Meeting on Family Farming and Rural Development of CELAC, agree:
1. To urge all CELAC member states to strengthen the existing coordination mechanisms
to achieve the coordinated implementation of the 2018 Action Plan (in annex), with the
support of the Pro-Tempore Presidency (PTP).
2. To request the member states to reaffirm their commitment to the Ad-hoc Working
Group on Family Farming of CELAC and to the Subregional spaces of policy dialogue for
Family Farming, such as the Specialized Meeting on Family Farming of the Southern
Common Market (REAF / MERCOSUR), the Central American and the Dominican
Republic Commission of Family Farming of the Central American Integration System
(CCAF / SICA) and the Andean Dialogue Group (GDA), strengthening the participation of
the civil society.
3. To request the support and accompaniment of the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations (FAO), the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) and the
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), for the
identification of the 100 territories with the highest rate of hunger and
undernourishment in the region, in order to prioritize the reactivation of the
implementation of the FSN CELAC Plan in those territories, actively involving social
organizations actively involving social organizations working in family farming.
4. To strengthen the mechanisms of South-South Cooperation and the exchange of
experiences between the member countries and the different subregional integration
organizations such as the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), the Andean
Community of Nations (CAN), the Central American Integration System (SICA), and the
Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
5. To reinforce actions on family farming and rural development, to contribute to the
achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), within the framework of the
2030 Agenda, in order to reduce poverty and inequality.

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6. To reactivate, with the accompaniment and support of the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the implementation of the Plan for Food
Security, Nutrition and Hunger Eradication of CELAC 2025 (FSN-CELAC Plan) in the
countries of the region, through the execution of national plans and strategies, and urge
those countries that do not have these instruments to move forward on its elaboration.
7. To articulate efforts and deepen actions with the CELAC Working Group on the
Advancement of Women to contribute to the implementation of the Gender Strategy
of the Plan for Food Security, Nutrition and Hunger Eradication 2025, approved at the V
Summit of Chiefs and Heads of State, held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic in January
2017.
8. To recognize the vulnerability of CELAC states, particularly those in the Caribbean and
Central America, to climate change, manifested in hurricanes, prolonged droughts,
and other frequent and devastating extreme events that impact the capacity of family
farming and sustainable production.
9. To adopt the Regional Strategy for Integral Disaster Risk Management in the Agriculture
Sectors and Food and Nutrition Security in Latin America and the Caribbean, which
provides a response to the request from CELAC in 2015, which it is expected to
contribute to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) to face the adverse
effects of the phenomena associated with climate change.
10. To invite intergovernmental organizations on family farming and rural development,
national systems and authorities responsible for disaster risk reduction and civil
protection and other relevant actors, to work together to strengthen the resilience of
the agricultural, livestock, forestry, aquaculture and fishing sectors, guaranteeing the
food and nutritional sovereignty of our peoples, as well as the livelihoods of family
farmers.
11. To recognize the progress made in different countries regarding the construction and
implementation of public policies on family farming and rural development strategies
and reduction of poverty and inequality, and the need to continue strengthening legal
frameworks and generate the necessary institutional arrangements for its articulated
implementation.
12. To strengthen public policies, particularly those that contribute to the development of
agroecological family farming with cultural and territorial identity, and therefore to the
economic, social and environmental sustainability of rural territories, with emphasis on
communities in conditions of vulnerability.

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13. To promote the participatory construction of public policies with a territorial approach
with the active involvement of social organizations working in family farming and
indigenous peoples in order to have instruments of an inclusive nature, supporting the
initiatives and progress made by countries promoting family farming with the
application of intercultural principles.
14. To encourage participatory construction and the implementation of public policies
aimed at generating attractive opportunities for rural youth and families, promoting
diversification and social and technological innovation regarding the dynamics of the
territory.
15. To strengthen the articulation of programs and strategies of social protection and
productive inclusion in the countries and rural territories in order to improve the quality
of life of families and rural development, through intersectoral work.
16. To promote the access of family farming to productive assets, inclusive and pluralistic,
financial and non-financial rural services, prioritizing strategic investments in social
infrastructure, support for production in rural territories, to strengthen family farming,
development rural development and overcoming territorial asymmetries, implementing
changes to curricular programs with a food sovereignty and family farming approach,
promoting of the value and benefits of family farming.
17. To facilitate the access of family farming to markets, through the strengthening of
institutional purchasing programs, the promotion of local markets, the generation of
links between rural, peri-urban and urban areas, the recognition of their cultural, social
and environmental value.
18. To acknowledge the role of family farming in reducing food losses and waste, given its
participation in all food systems, from production and sale to the assurance of proper
family nutrition.
19. To follow up on the agreements reached at the Latin American and Caribbean Meeting
of Rural Youth, held in Panama City in October 2017 and the rural youth agenda agreed
upon at that meeting.
20. To recognize the importance of the efforts undertaken by PARLATINO in the elaboration
of framework laws that contribute to the recognition, promotion and impulse of family
farming, rural development and food and nutritional security.
21. The Ministers and Agricultural Authorities of CELAC recognize in a special way the work
of FAO in the region, in priority areas related to the Human Right to Food, the reduction
of poverty of our rural populations, mainly through the FSN CELAC Plan for the

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achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, within the framework of the 40th
Anniversary of the establishment of the National Offices of the Organization, in the
countries of CELAC.
22. We highly appreciate the achievements of the Central American and the Dominican
Republic Commission of Family Agriculture (CCAF) in support of the technical group on
family farming and FSN, within the framework of the Central American Agricultural
Council (CAC), through which progress has been made in the development of an
institutional and legal framework for Family Farming, in the producers registry, spaces
for dialogue, differentiated public policies and request the continuity of the support of
the FAO to move forward with these initiatives.
23. The ministers and agricultural authorities acknowledge the participation of social
organizations representing family farming in regional integration spaces, in drafting and
implementation of policies to promote food sovereignty in the region
24. We suggest that all of the CELAC countries support the approval of the Decade of Family
Farming in the United Nations General Assembly.
25. Request FAO to initiate the necessary steps to propitiate the establishment of a
Technical Secretariat of the Ministerial Meeting on Family Farming and Rural
Development of CELAC and the Ad-hoc Working Group, which would have as its main
objective the follow-up of the current Plan of Work and its fulfillment, as well as
providing support to the Pro Tempore Presidency in the programs, plans and activities
in progress.
26. Adopt the Action Plan 2018 of the Ad-hoc Family Farming Working Group of CELAC in
the terms of the attached document in annex 1 of this declaration.
The meeting also expresses its thanks to:
• FAO and the Ad-hoc Family Farming Working Group of CELAC for the support provided
in the implementation of the 2017 Action Plan; and the organization of the IV Ministerial
Meeting, reiterating the importance of keeping this support.
• The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) for its support in
holding this meeting and its coordinated work with FAO and the CELAC member states,
for the participatory construction of the Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk

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Management in the Agricultural Sector and Food and Nutrition Security in Latin America
and the Caribbean.
• The Pro Tempore Presidency of CELAC and the Government of El Salvador for the
hospitality and facilities provided for the IV Ministerial Meeting on Family Farming and
Rural Development of CELAC and its working group, held in San Salvador, El Salvador,
on December 12 and 13, 2017.
27. Hold the V Ministerial Meeting on Family Farming and Rural Development of CELAC in
Panama City, Panama in 2018.

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Appendix 1.
Action Plan of the Ad-hoc Working Group on Family Farming and Rural
Development of the CELAC 2018
The Ad-hoc Working Group on Family Farming and Rural Development of CELAC,
gathered on December 12, in San Salvador, El Salvador, adopts the Action Plan 2018,
described below:
1. Draft a program for the promotion of South-South Cooperation on family farming
topics and territorial rural development to contribute to the development of families
and the reduction of rural poverty in the countries of the region.
2. To facilitate the exchange of experiences among member countries of the CCAF, REAF
MERCOSUR, GDA and CARICOM on the following topics: a)family farmers registry; b)
mechanisms for family farming inclusion in markets c) institutional purchasing
systems; d) financial services for family farming.
3. Develop and implement, in collaboration with FAO and other partners, a research
program aimed at studying the dynamics and transformation of rural poverty in Latin
America and the Caribbean.
4. Build, in coordination with FAO and the Parliamentary Front against Hunger, a group
of public policy proposals on social and technological innovation.
5. Support the Latin American Network of Rural Extension Services (RELASER) for the
implementation of a platform for knowledge exchange on family farming and rural
development, including the Caribbean subregion, with the objective of strengthening
the work of rural organizations.
6. Support the elaboration of a training program for organizational strengthening and
institutional capacity building on sustainable production of goods and services in silvo-
agropastoral and aquaculture-fishing systems for family farming, to provide new
opportunities for productive linkage.
7. Support the creation of a forum on agricultural production systems with an agro-
ecological approach and biocultural diversity in the territories with a green jobs
approach, including the most vulnerable population groups.
8. Support the implementation of the rural youth agenda agreed in October 2017 at the
Regional Meeting on Youth in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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9. Promote, with the support of the FAO, the strengthening of family farming through
the implementation of awareness-raising actions that contribute to the prevention
and reduction of food loss and waste, and the promotion of responsible consumption.
10. Promote, within the framework of South-South Cooperation, forums for discussion
and exchange of experiences on the integration of fisheries and aquaculture in policies
on family farming, in order to broaden the diversification strategies of family
productive systems.
11. Prepare a manual on policy formulation for artisanal fisheries for the diversification of
livelihoods, based on the identification of successful cases of productive inclusion in
fishing communities of the region.
12. Support, in conjunction with the FAO and United Nations Office for Disaster Risk
Reduction (UNISDR), an operational mechanism for the implementation of the
Regional strategy for integral disaster risk management in agriculture sectors and food
security and nutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean, which will give priority to
identifying opportunities for South-South Cooperation between the countries of
CELAC.
13. Organize in the first half of 2018 in Guatemala, the meeting for the execution of the
operational mechanism of the Regional strategy for integral disaster risk management
in agriculture sectors and food security and nutrition in Latin America and the
Caribbean.
14. The ad-hoc Technical Committee of the Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk
Management will present its progress in the VI Regional Platform for Disaster Risk
Management of the Americas, to be held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, from June
20 to 22, 2018, to strengthen the role of the agricultural sector and family farming, in
the regional efforts to implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction
2015-2030
15. Implement in an accelerated manner with the support and facilitation of FAO,
initiatives and actions within the framework of the FSN-CELAC Plan that contribute to
improve the quality of life of the population of the 100 territories identified as those
with the highest rates of hunger and undernourishment in the region, with the
participation of social organizations that work in family farming.
16. Strengthen and expand existing national spaces for policy dialogue on family farming
and indigenous peoples, and implement producer registries in member countries.

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